Last week, former two division world champion David Haye has revealed the results of surgery on his left bicep that forced the postponement of his grudge rematch with Tony Bellew.
Haye suffered what he said was a “freak accident” in training for the December 17 date at London’s O2 Arena, tripping during an exercise routine on some stairs and injuring his upper arm while reaching for the banister to prevent a fall.
The 37-year-old has endured a number of injury setbacks in his career, notably fighting on despite rupturing his Achilles during a dramatic defeat to Bellew in in March, his third fight since returning to the ring after a near four-year absence in January 2016.
The Londoner had previously announced his retirement because of a shoulder injury he sustained in the build-up to a scheduled fight with Tyson Fury, having first been forced to postpone that after being cut during sparring.
The Fury fight had been scheduled after Haye’s withdrawal, owing to a hand injury, from an earlier match-up with Manuel Charr, and four years after a back injury led to the cancellation of a fight with Wladimir Klitschko in the summer of 2009.
A “devastated” Haye said earlier this week he hopes his return bout with Bellew can be rearranged for March 24 or May 5, and his spirits seemed to have lifted as he gave an update on his injury on Friday.
Where does this leave Bellew?
There is not a lot of faith in Haye being physically capable of making the rematch date.
Because of that, numerous heavyweight fighters are calling Bellew out - including Dillian Whyte, who is ranked at number one by the WBC.
Whyte has been tearing Bellew apart in several interviews and on social media.
Bellew, who used to be the hunter, is now being hunted by numerous fighters because of his name value.
David Coldwell, the head trainer of Bellew, explained why Whyte is not the proper choice for his boxer's next fight.
While Coldwell respects Whyte as a fighter, it's not the kind of bout that motivates Bellew from a financial position and from the position of securing a career-defining bout.
"Dillian is a great talker, he's a good fighter, but he's not done anything on that sort of level where Tony feels there is a lot to gain. Tony has been in the game a long, long time, and it's about fights that are going to excite him and give him some sort of reward for going through everything," Coldwell told Sky Sports.
"There is everything to gain for Dillian, because he's chasing big fights. Nothing seems to be happening for Dillian and he wants it. He's training all the time and getting better as a fighter, but unfortunately for one reason or another, he's not landing the big fights. He needs the fight to break him out there and obviously he is targeting Bellew, because Bellew is that name."